Corey Lewandowski firing brings hope for change among Republicans
Republicans on Capitol Hill hope that the departure of Corey Lewandowski from Donald Trump's campaign will lead to a positive change in the presumptive GOP nominee's approach.
Many have expressed concern with Trump's comments throughout the primary campaign and have questioned whether he has the ability to act presidential.
"It's probably a recognition that they're going to...turn the page, so to speak, in terms of their strategy," Sen. John Thune, R-South Dakota, told Politico. "They're trying to demonstrate that they sort of get it. And that they're going to have to start moving in a different direction."
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-North Carolina, told Politico he's not sure what will happen next now that Lewandowski is no longer Trump's campaign manager. He fired him on Monday morning.
"Not really sure what it means," Tillis said."Really don't know what motivated him ... This is clearly a campaign nobody can predict."
Sen. Mike Rounds, R-South Dakota is hoping Trump changes his rhetorical approach.
"All of us have been disappointed with some of the comments and think he's got to refocus," said Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota. "He got into personal things and now he's taking a second look at that hopefully. A lot of us want to be his supporters and not his defenders. And there's a difference."
Paul Manafort is now taking full control of the campaign, Trump aides said Monday. Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Alabama, told Politico that Manafort's background "is more suited for this stage of the campaign."
And the presumptive GOP nominee said on Fox News' "The O'Reilly Factor" Monday night that his campaign is now moving in a new direction.
"I think it's time now for a different kind of a campaign. We ran a small, beautiful, well unified campaign. It worked very well in the primaries," Trump said on Fox. "We're going to go a little bit of a different route from this point forward."